Flames host Habs without Cammalleri

The Flames need to get things going if they hope to make the playoffs. They'll have to try and find that spark tonight without forward Mike Cammalleri.

The forward will miss a meeting with his former club due to injury as Calgary aims to avoid a third straight defeat tonight versus the Montreal Canadiens.

The Flames have dropped six of their past seven games, with three of those losses in shootouts. Getting some points in their defeats has helped them stay within three points of the eighth spot in the Western Conference, but the Flames need to start racking up some wins if they hope to make a move.

Calgary came up empty in a 3-2 shootout loss to Dallas on Sunday. Miikka Kiprusoff, who made 38 saves through overtime, was beaten twice in the tiebreaker, while Olli Jokinen and Alex Tanguay came up empty on their attempts.

Curtis Glencross and Jarome Iginla scored for the Flames.

"It's been tough. It hasn't been easy losing those shootout games," said Iginla. "I honestly do feel like they can go either way and you can get them going back in your direction and all of a sudden you going into them and you just feel like you're going to get them."

Cammalleri, meanwhile, suffered an upper-body injury in defeat and he will sit out tonight's contest. Cammalleri came over from the Canadiens to the Flames in a trade on Jan. 12, just days after he made negative remarks about his now former club. He was dealt along with goaltender Karri Ramo and a fifth-round pick for Rene Bourque, Patrick Holland and a 2013 second-round selection.

The forward signed a five-year deal with Montreal in July of 2009 following a 39-goal campaign with the Flames, but had just nine goals in 38 games this year before the trade. Cammalleri has posted six goals and 11 points in 21 games with Calgary this season.

Tanguay said on Monday that the Flames will miss Cammalleri in a game that would have served as extra motivation.

"Obviously when you play (your former team) for the first time, there is a lot more adrenaline and a lot more emotion. As a team, certainly we could have fed off that a bit, but injuries are part of the game," said Tanguay.

Forwards Lance Bouma (upper body) and Blake Comeau (shoulder) are also expected to sit out tonight, so the Flames recalled a trio of players from the minors on Monday: Guillaume Desbiens, Krys Kolanos and Greg Nemisz.

The Canadiens sit last in the Eastern Conference and have lost eight of their past 10 games. They begin a four-game road trip tonight following Saturday's 3-1 defeat to the visiting rival Maple Leafs.

"It's disappointing. Nobody likes to lose, that's for sure. I thought we did some good things but at the end of the day it just wasn't enough," Cole admitted. "We have to do a better job of putting pucks on net for those second and third chances."

Montreal played without both Scott Gomez and Aaron Palushaj due to eye injuries.

Bourque actually scored twice for the Flames in a 4-1 win at Montreal back on Oct. 13, a game Cammalleri missed for the Habs due to a leg injury. Calgary has won two straight and five of its past six versus Montreal overall.

The Canadiens haven't won in Calgary since Jan. 5, 2002, going 0-5 with a tie in six meetings since.